Matthew 27:53

The context

This is the continuation of the previous verses, and it is the most obscure sentence in Matthew's passion narrative. The tombs are opened at the death, but the appearing is deferred until after the resurrection. The city is Jerusalem, and the witnesses are described only as many.

What it establishes

It establishes that Matthew intends the death of Jesus to have effects reaching into the grave, and that the resurrection is the moment when those effects become visible. It functions as a sign within the city.

What it does not establish

It does not identify anyone. No names, no number, and no further account are given, and the other gospels are silent. Whether this is a legend, a symbolic statement, or a report of something otherwise unknown is disputed, and the verse does not settle which.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• In Matthew 27:52-53, it says that after Jesus' death, dead people were resurrected and were walking around Jerusalem. Empirically, how could this have happened, and why?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.